What Causes Asparagus Pee?

Story at-a-glance -

Asparagus tends to grant human urine with distinctive odor, but only in some people, unless everyone does and only some can detect it, as the ability to smell the odd odor varies between people and populations

Asparagus metabolites can cause “a rather malodorous bouquet,” and there’s a link between the ability to smell asparagus pee and more than 9 million genetic variants

Not everyone produces the odor after eating asparagus, and not everyone finds it offensive, depending on their ability to actually detect the smell; in essence, some are producers and some aren’t, and some are smellers while others aren’t

By Dr. Mercola

Cooking up some tasty, tender-crisp asparagus with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a few sprinkles of Himalayan salt is a popular side dish, and after dinner you might even find yourself sneaking a few half-warm sticks of the interesting green veggie to munch — it's that delicious. Asparagus has its own valuable set of nutrients that make it a healthy food. There are purple (due to more anthocyanins) and white (due to thwarted chlorophyll from the absence of sunlight) varieties of this veggie, too, with slightly varying nutrient content.

However, there's an odd phenomenon that sometimes gains notoriety after a hearty serving: Asparagus has the capability of giving urine a peculiar odor like nothing else you've ever eaten. Scientists in a study of the phenomenon noted that asparagus metabolites can cause "a rather malodorous bouquet," and there's a link between the ability to smell asparagus pee and more than 9 million genetic variants.1

It's an ancient observation, though, one noted by Stephen C. Mitchell, from the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, who chronicled the history of asparagus reaching back at least to the 11th century.2 It was published in Perspectives in Biology and Medicine and subsequently quoted by Medical News Today: "The Ancients thought asparagus had medicinal properties and took its odor-producing qualities as proof of its activity."3

Benjamin Franklin even noticed it, as did Louis Lémery, a French botanist who lived in the 18th century, whose quote on the subject was one for the books: Asparagus causes "a filthy and disagreeable smell in the urine, as everybody knows."4 What's interesting is that not everybody did know, as scientists have now figured out.

However, scientists still hadn't definitively identified the chemical compound that causes the smell, so experiments were conducted at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Massachusetts (as part of two long-term studies known as the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study) by researchers from the U.S. and Europe to get to the bottom of it.

Mitchell explains that sulfur is usually at the bottom of such a smelly conundrum; case in point: the not-so-fragrant aroma of rotten eggs. Other studies had already determined at least some of the compounds present when someone has eaten a healthy amount of asparagus: methanethiol, dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide, the first two detectable by smell when asparagus is boiled.

Scientists explain the smell is an indication that cooking could destroy them. Matthews indicates that another compound, asparagusic acid, which isn't so prone to breaking down when exposed to heat, may be the culprit. Asparagusic acid, known by scientists by chemical moniker 1,2-dithiolane-4-carboxylic acid and thought to be present to protect tender asparagus shoots from parasites, is the "active ingredient."

What's All the Fuss About Asparagus?

Depending on where you live, you may be one of those lucky individuals who grew up gathering asparagus for dinner just by driving down country roads and spotting it growing abundantly in meadows and ditch banks. The tall, graceful stalks are bright green, like tiny, slender trunks of green palm trees, with flexible tops not unlike an inflated, purple-green wheat tassel.

When they're cut for consumption, asparagus stalks should be rinsed well, then "snapped" about one-quarter of the way up the stalk at a natural breaking point. The top three-quarters is tender enough to sauté or steam with a little natural salt so that it's tender-crisp to the bite rather than woody. (As stalks get larger and thicker, they tend to get more woody, like chewing a toothpick.)

In fact, the cooking time for asparagus is crucial, making the vegetable either delectable or pithy and unpleasant. The World's Healthiest Foods, sponsored by the George Mateljan Foundation,5 a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to helping people cook and eat for optimal nutrition, recommends sautéing it for three minutes.

Any longer than that and not only does the enjoyable, crisp texture become mushy, turn "off-green" and bland, it also loses much of its nutritive value. It's also important to note that pencil-thin stalks cook quicker than thicker ones. Further:

"Recent research has underscored the value of careful storage of fresh asparagus. The key scientific finding here involves respiration rate. Like all vegetables, asparagus doesn't instantly 'die' when it is picked, but instead, continues to engage in metabolic activity.

This metabolic activity includes intake of oxygen, the breaking down of starches and sugars, and the releasing of carbon dioxide. The speed at which these processes occur is typically referred to as 'respiration rate.' Compared to most other vegetables, asparagus has a very high respiration rate."6

Among the most prominent nutrients that make asparagus a uniquely healthy vegetable are vitamins K, B1, B2, C and E, plus folate, copper and selenium, but others are outstanding as well, namely fiber, potassium, phosphorus, iron, protein, zinc, manganese, pantothenic acid and vitamins B3 and B6, as well as A.

Then there's the asparagusic acid, which can be thanked (or not) for delivering what Ben Franklin called "a disagreeable odor." It turns out it's a reactive acid as it's flanked by two sulfur atoms in the molecule, which helps the acid break down rapidly. Scientists think the derivatives are what emits the smell when asparagus is eaten.

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Some Produce the Smell and Some Don't; Some People Smell It and Some Don't

While eating asparagus may cause some people's urine to smell odd, it's a little more complex than that, because not everyone produces the odd odor after eating asparagus, and not everyone finds it offensive, depending on their ability to actually detect the smell.

In essence, there are "producers" and "non-producers," and there are smellers versus non-smellers. As Medical News Today explains, the non-sniffers have asparagus anosmia, the technical term for an inability to smell. Interestingly, the gene that makes the smell detectable has a name, too: olfactory receptor.

To figure out the inherited factors linked to the ability to smell asparagus metabolites in urine, a study7 involving 6,909 men and women (of European-American descent) concluded that 60 percent of them could be classified as asparagus anosmic — non-smellers. There are three distinct differences between people in this regard, The World's Healthiest Foods8 explains:

Inside your GI tract, the differences involve the way asparagus is digested as well as differences in the way asparagusic acid is absorbed

There are differences in the way people metabolize asparagusic acid if it gets absorbed up into your bloodstream

Some people have different abilities in regard to detecting the presence of asparagusic acid derivatives, which can sometimes be unusual, such as someone having significant amounts of asparagusic acid derivatives in his or her urine without being able to smell it, even when someone else can!

Incidentally, another aspect worth getting into is that at its core, the molecule has a component called 1,2-dithiolane, which is key in forming a sulfur-containing organic acid called alpha-lipoic acid. As an antioxidant, it is in turn involved in enzymatic activity critical to the pathways of aerobic metabolism.9

Urine: Not Just What Goes in, but What Comes Out, Is Important

Urine serves a very important purpose for your health and well-being. It could be compared to a waste elimination plant and involves one of your most important organs: your kidneys. This filters both the fluids you drink and waste from your blood as a purifier.

Your kidneys' ability to succeed in this role is a huge determining factor for your overall health. When you think about the potential toxins introduced to your system through your diet, it gives you a new level of appreciation for the function and significance in your kidneys' ability to flush out toxins so they won't build up in your system.

Scientists estimate that in an adult's lifetime, a million gallons of water are passed through their kidneys. The urine you expel is roughly 95 percent water and 5 percent uric acid. What you eat and drink affects it; if you eat beets, for instance, your urine will likely take on a dark pink hue, not to mention the possibility of the peculiar odor after asparagus consumption.

You may even get an idea of what might be causing certain physical problems and conditions by the color and smell of your urine. It can take on a green, brown, yellow or orange tint, as well as cloudiness. In its fragrance, your urine may be reminiscent of maple syrup or even roses. Anything startlingly different may indicate something you should pay attention to or maybe even see a doctor about.

Many other things could be said about the importance of pee, but two of the crucial ones are simple: When you have to go, go. Waiting can exacerbate painful urinary tract infections and even distension, meaning your bladder enlarges and may not return to its normal size. It's never good to hold onto toxins.

It's best to get rid of them as often as you need to. The second bit of advice is to drink plenty of pure water. A good rule of thumb to determine how much water you need is to listen to your body and let thirst be your guide. You may be surprised at how much better you feel.

Aspects of Asparagus That Make It an Antioxidant Anti-Inflammatory

Not surprisingly, asparagus contains many very significant phytonutrients to benefit your health, and they reverberate throughout your body. One of the most important may be the antioxidant benefits, because they fight free radicals roaming around in your body looking for a weak place to break down your resistance and leave you open to disease.

Asparagus saponins, chemical compounds that Phytochemicals10 describes as glucosides with foaming characteristics found in most vegetables, as well as herbs, lead to such beneficial effects as immune system stimulation, bone loss reduction, optimized blood cholesterol by preventing its re-absorption and prevention of cancer cell growth.

Studies have shown white asparagus to be instrumental in causing colon cancer cell death,11 and it exerts further positive effects on combatting liver cancer by regulating apoptosis gene expression.

Asparagus extracts were also used to show its effectiveness in reducing corticosterone and lipid peroxide, two markers of chronic stress.12 According to one study, asparagus roots are the main source of a "crude" drug called shatavari, used to increase breast milk production and the appetite of lactating women, as well as for dysentery, tumors, inflammation, leprosy, epilepsy and night blindness.13

That introduces another term, shatavarins, a group of steroidal saponins in asparagus, well-known in Ayurvedic medicine and modern East Indian pharmacopeia. One study notes that asparagus racemosus, a species grown in India and Asia, contains:

"Essential oils, asparagine, arginine, tyrosine, flavonoids (kaempferol, quercetin, and rutin), resin, and tannin. It is a well-known Ayurvedic rasayana which prevent ageing, increase longevity, impart immunity, improve mental function, vigor and add vitality to the body. It is also used in nervous disorders, dyspepsia, tumors, inflammation, neuropathy and hepatopathy."14

Studies in recent years have noted that shatavarins in asparagus contain other saponins that have a beneficial effect on inflammation by inhibiting cytokine production and messaging,15 and other reviews have explored how asparagus may have potential in reducing dementia-related diseases such as Alzheimer's.

How Important Is the Ability to Smell Asparagus Pee?

According to the featured study, scientists first thought those with strong-smelling urine after eating copious amounts of asparagus, as well as those who could detect the smell even if the person producing the urine could not, must reflect a genetic factor. Later, they determined that everybody secretes the odor to some degree but that not everybody could detect it. Further, they revealed the difference was due to genetic factors. According to Myths of Human Genetics:

"It is clear that there is variation in two different traits: excretion of sulfur compounds in urine after eating asparagus, and ability to smell those compounds. This means that asking people whether their own urine smells odd after they eat asparagus is not a good way to study this. The limited amount of family data available suggests that excreting may be a simple one-gene character, with the allele for excreting dominant, but more work needs to be done."16

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Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola, unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author, who retains copyright as marked. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your health care professional before using products based on this content.

If you want to use an article on your site please click here. This content may be copied in full, with copyright, contact, creation and information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not-for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Dr. Mercola is required.

Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola, unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author, who retains copyright as marked. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your health care professional before using products based on this content.

If you want to use an article on your site please click here. This content may be copied in full, with copyright, contact, creation and information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not-for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Dr. Mercola is required.